Successor
by Lennox13
Summary: Percy wakes up in an unfamiliar place. Thor is just as confused. One-shot. For the love of crossovers!


Percy gasped, waking up all dramatic-like, stormy eyes flying open. His limbs flailed, trying to throw off the thin covers wrapped around his sweaty arms and legs. The feeling of wrongness hanging in the air made his skin crawl, like ants biting, like lightning arching over his skin. It took everything inside of him to not hurl his head over the side of his cot and throw up.

Where was he? The thought clanked and droned, a hushed mantra sounding in his head. The room or place he was in, was dark and he could only make out the basic shapes of his bed, a small metallic toilet and a sink, although he was hard-pressed to differentiate between the latter two pot-like figures.

For comfort, he tested the air and suppressed a shudder of utter relief when he felt moisture, blessed coolness, in the air and heard the groan of pipes as he tugged a bit harder at the water that hid within the walls.

Percy sat up, pulling the remaining bit of blanket from his sticky form. Clenching and unclenching his fists, he swung his feet onto the floor, wincing as cool metal kissed his soles. Where am I? He shakes his head in confusion, trying to sort through the jumble of images swirling, bombarding his brain.

All questions vanished when the door clicked and before the door handle had even rotated fully, he was standing in a defensive position, facing the door. With a stuttering heart, he clutched at his empty pockets in dismay. He only wore a light tank top and basic shorts, but his outfit didn't bother him. No matter what he wore - it could have been a chicken suit for all he cared - but he was painfully aware of the lack of Riptide's weight at his side.

The man who entered was not exactly what Percy had expected. And that was saying a lot since, throughout his experiences with beings from at least three Pantheons, he really should be used to everything. But he clearly wasn't. The feeling in the air changed. No longer merely wrong, the atmosphere became oppressive. Percy struggled to take a breath. The air tasted metallic, like when he pissed off Clarisse, and he smelled rain and violence. Instincts blaring, Percy forced his body still, thinking of Lupa and his Roman training.

The man, with short-cropped hair and a rugged stubble across his jaw, created an imposing silhouette against the dim light filtering in through the door from behind him. His stance, though relaxed, screamed warrior without trying, and Percy couldn't quite identify the colour of the man's hair or eyes in the dim.

Both males stood, both princes in their own right, facing each other, for a moment that seemed to stretch into eternity. Their eyes darted subtly, searching for weaknesses – finding none – as they sized up one another.

"Who are you, boy?" With a voice hinting at thunder, the unknown man broke the silence. The '_boy'_ wasn't quite patronising; just a term of address.

Percy frowned, caught slightly off guard. Not to be arrogant, but usually, anyone dangerous knew his name. A small bit of tension released from his back. "Where am I?" he asked, momentarily forgetting that the man had asked a question first.

Frown deepening, the man stepped forward. "All your questions will be answered in due course," he reassured and against logical reasoning, Percy found that he believed him. "I truly mean you no harm unless you pose a threat to me or mine. However, I must know, and I beg you to answer me truthfully, _who _are you?"

"Percy," he relented, still hesitating, even though his tongue was already starting to form the words that would surely reveal his heritage. "Perseus Jackson."

"True," the man stated softly, almost to himself, but his scrunched brow didn't relax. "I am Thor, Odinson."

Percy's eyes flickered,his gaze widening almost imperceptibly, but Thor took notice and his frown relaxed somewhat. Was that relief softening the man's jaw?

Percy felt as if he was drowning in a sea of confusion, or, at least, what he imagined drowning would feel like.

"Mayhap hope clouds my judgement but I sense your essence, young Perseus. I hear the waves in the thrum of your veins. I smell the salt; feel the ocean." Nervous energy lanced through Percy. "From the moment you entered my presence, my blood recognised yours, old friend." A smile broke across Thor's face and he started forward as if to crush Percy in a hug. Or wring his neck, if his past experiences set any precedent.

Percy didn't feel threatened, though, but held out his hand, halting the much, much larger man, both in height and muscle bulk. "Going out on a limb here, Thor," and he tacked on a quick "_Buddy_" because it couldn't hurt, trying to gather his thoughts which seemed to be spilling through his mind like loose sand through splayed fingers. "But I'm guessing you're a god? Right?" Percy arched an eyebrow, keeping a close eye on Thor's face for any sign of deceit.

The man, Thor, had such an open, honest face, and he appeared an open book, but one could never be too careful. Thor nodded slowly, some of his original joy turning into apprehension.

"Okay then, and you think I am...?" Percy prompted, his wrist rotating slightly, gesturing for an answer.

"Is this a test? Some manner of _prank_?" Thor's frown had returned, and he crossed his arms as he said the last word, twisting his mouth as if it tasted foul. The smell of ozone and the crackle of static in the air increased. Moisture gathered in the air, heralding a barely contained storm. The metal of the vessel they were in groaned in answer and on the edges of his hearing Percy could hear some kind of commotion as a faint alarm blared. "I believe you to be Neptune, of course, and I am in no mood for games."

Percy shifted his feet nervously, backing away from the metallic wall. They were in a massive ship of some kind, something like the Argo II. But they were definitely not on the water. "Sorry, _friend_, I didn't mean to offend you or anything," Percy placated. "I spent some time with the Romans," he gestured at his SPQR tattoo and Thor's eyes flickered towards it, only for a moment, before settling back on Percy's face. "But actually, my dad's Poseidon."

Something strange happened then. It was almost like the very air tried to choke him as his lungs suddenly filled with too-too much oxygen. Every hair on his body stood to attention as if saying his father's name had conjured a hurricane inside of him.

Seemingly unaware of Percy's predicament, Thor merely looked thoroughly confused. "You've returned to your older incarnation, Neptune? Son of Poseidon?" Thor chuckled, then barked a booming laugh. "Surely, you cannot mean to suggest you are a demigod! There hasn't been any godspawn for millennia!"

Percy could only shake his head as he tried to keep a reign on his powers, which were surging through him like a riptide, pulling at him to grab the water, seize the sea – something inside of him yearned to unfurl, to let loose, to be set free.

He could feel _everything._ The ship they were in was definitely airborne, but he could _feel_ the ocean thousands and thousands of feet below them. Never had his power seemed so vast and so close at hand. It seemed impossibly easy to just reach down, down, down, and he tried, and to his horror and awe, he felt the waves answer. Responding to his emotions the sky darkened even further and a proper storm brewed around the thunder and lightning already lacing the sky because of Thor's own turbulent emotions. And for everything that he could suddenly, _impossibly_, feel, what worried him most, was what he couldn't.

Always, even when he had just been a stupid eleven-year-old boy with an amazing mum and a penchant for trouble; Percy could always feel his dad's presence, like a heated ember pulsing in his gut. But now, even as he stretched his newfound senses deeper and deeper into the depths of the ocean, he found nothing that called out to remnants of ichor in his blood. He couldn't find any trace of Poseidon.

But he found something though. And it nearly stopped his heart cold.

Hidden, buried at the bottom of an underwater canyon, deeper than the sky was high, were the ruins of a city and a coral castle. Percy's breath came faster and faster, and yet, the oxygen didn't seem to travel all the way to his brain. Lightheaded, black spots danced before his eyes. "I-I don't understand."

Concern softened Thor's voice, even as he warily eyed the younger man before him. "Me neither, friend. I am unsure of your identity. But I cannot bring myself to feel anything but joy and gratitude."

Percy just wanted a straight answer. "Why?"

"Because, before I found you," and here Thor paused almost delicately. "I had thought Asgard the only remaining realm of old."

"What? What does that mean?" The ship groaned, lilting to the side, and Percy lurched with it, landing on his knees and gripping at the cot that sat bolted to the floor. "Where is Poseidon? Where is my dad?"

"Perseus, don't you know? All the gods are dead."


End file.
